The season is upon us, more so every day as cooler nights have hit the upper 30's. My lawn that is now mostly meadow is the canvas I am using to dabble native wildflower seed into. It has a few welcome volunteers that are in flower, namely the latest asters, goldenrods, and native grasses. My favorite two are the late flowering Solidago puberula or downy goldenrod, and the white frost aster or Symphyotrichum pilosum.
We ceased mowing in late spring, and I have spread seed throughout the seasons (with more to go in spring), so next year should be full of surprises. While in Tennessee for the Pigeon Forge Rod Run, we visited the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. As a park it is highly diverse with ample old growth forest, but my interest was in the wildflowers of the open meadows. There were a few native plants there that were unfamiliar to me, September was full of wonderful surprises, and it was beautiful!
In my flower beds that are more manicured and open to non-natives I have really enjoyed the tropical salvia, Salvia cacaliifolia or Guatemalan Leaf Sage. The blue flowers are really striking and it's flowered nonstop all summer.
This actea or cimicifuga is a hybrid of A. simplex and racemosa. Incredibly fragrant and still in full bloom, I do want more.
There was some fretting over all of the little cyclamen tubers I moved from my old garden and I did loose many, but the few survivors are here and putting on a display. It's good to see them still flowering and unfurling little winter leaves.
With this young garden, not even a year old, it's good to see old friends and new arrivals. I miss my night garden, enough so that I might try one here. The two brugmansias I brought with me as cuttings, and only a foot tall, grew to at least five feet with an equal spread. They are dug and spending the winter in a garage with minimal heat, beside the tuberose tubers; it certainly sounds like I am going the way of a new night garden! And who am I kidding!? There will be moths!!
